Architecture and Design

Tierra Chiloé Hotel & Spa is a hotel designed and built to be one more element of the natural landscape. Its simple, natural, first-class architecture is a harmonious combination of traditional Chiloé craftsmanship and modern design, employing fine woods with a cutting-edge vision that simply astonishes visitors. The construction mimics the natural environment, becoming a part of the landscape without altering it, and evoking the island’s solid and ancient culture.

The hotel inserts itself into the landscape by contrast, as if backlit. With the passage of time, the hotel’s architecture will become invisible and give way to a living memory of the visitor’s experience, of the exploration and discovery of new worlds.

The first level of the hotel offers a quiet space for relaxation, with its extensive sitting rooms, cosy fireplaces, comfortable armchairs and an ample view of the Rilan Bay and Pullao wetland, a unique perspective on the imposing landscape of Chiloé. Guest rooms and the spa are on the second floor.

The architectural spirit behind the hotel responds to a formidable challenge: how to integrate, in a single architectural gesture, the many variables and diverse forces that exist in this place? The answer is a project that seeks to achieve the perfect balance between an audacious structural and geometric gesture on one hand, and an infinitesimal sensitivity to ease of living and material comfort inside the hotel. The hotel is thus a valiant act of territorial conquest which nevertheless is generous with its surroundings.

The hotel’s location, its far-flung vistas and direct relationship with the wetland, together with its large pasture which drops off at the sea, are the elements which the hotel’s architecture sets into play through contrast.

Being inside the hotel is very different from being outside. Inside, one is sheltered, with views but protected by the ample space that soars above the common living areas, in an intimate space within a context open to the winds, the views and the presence of nature which together create the experience and memory of visiting the hotel.

The task of selecting building materials was fundamental to realizing the vision behind the hotel. Wood from indigenous species such as ulmo, conifer, beech and larch are present in every corner and detail. The design of these materials invites you to discover a part of nature that was shaped by the hands of talented craftsmen whose loving care is evident in every table, every wall, ceiling and space.

The material aspects of the hotel are consistent with a contemporary idea of the basic principle of using wood as an exterior skin and interior lining, but with a different geometry. This is a concept which we believe highly relevant and worthy of emphasis. To the raw material, a larch shingle, we introduce the most sophisticated technology in parametric design, only to return this geometry to the artisan’s production. This is an innovative achievement. A new industry in which digital technique and manual ability work on the same footing, complementing each other.

On the other hand, the use of cement in the primary structure and steel and metal in the secondary structure, respond to the concept of durability. The hotel should withstand, be a witness to the passage of time; it should endure. The glass, specially tinted to control solar radiation, gives a new reading to the main space. The almost complete transparency of the first floor reinforces the idea that the hotel is suspended above the landscape.